Luol Deng and Richard Hamilton did the best they could to try and pull out a victory for the Chicago Bulls over the reigning Western conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder with at least twenty points apiece. However, that was not enough to overcome the offensive production of Kevin Durant and the surprising Serge Ibaka, who has been playing extremely well on the offensive side of the ball lately with scoring outbursts of 14, 17, and 21 points in the last three games. These numbers are not great for the top offensive players in the game by any means but for Ibaka who is known for his defense this is great improvement. Ibaka will need to keep up this developing offensive game with the departure of James Harden to help fill the scoring void and offensive spark that Harden was able to at times. This will make the Thunder an extremely tough out if they are able to have a solid post game on the offensive side as they were able to display Thursday night in Chicago.

The Bulls put up a valiant effort but fell short in the 99-91 loss and one of the reasons was the struggles of Carlos Boozer who only had 9 points in the game and turned the ball over a Bulls game high 5 times to add to his troubles in the game. Boozer was solid on the defensive side grabbing 9 of his 11 rebounds on the defensive side but other than that it was a disappointing game for the man that the Bulls need to step up in the absence of Derrick Rose. Another key contributor to the Bulls loss could be the inconsistent play at the point guard position and absence of Nate Robinson on the floor for most of the game. Robinson only played 12 minutes but he has been a bright spot, for the most part, off of the bench for the Chicago Bulls and has played a decent point guard when given the opportunity in minimal time but the 22-24 minutes he is used to are better than the 12 tonight. Robinson is probably the Bulls best option at point guard with Rose sidelined because Kirk Hinrich is more suited to be a two-guard and Robinson is just a better playmaker than him. More minutes for Robinson would be a good thing for the Bulls but we will have to see if it happens in the near future.

The Bulls fell to 3-2 on the year with the loss to Oklahoma City but the Thunder are not a team the Bulls are expected to beat without their leader and superstar player Derrick Rose. The Bulls just need to hold down the fort and maintain a spot in the playoffs with wins by defense and good inside shooting while avoiding the excess use of outside shots, which they should be able to do because even without Rose the Bulls are an above average team and more than capable to make the playoffs.

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Written by Logan Williams
My name is Logan Williams and I am a senior at California University of Pennsylvania. I am an avid sports fan and I am looking to make a splash in the sporting industry and get my views out there so that other people can see what I have to offer.